Topic: The TV Show Thread

@nessisonett not bad but always a bit wary with live adaptions of anime.

So I used to be a huge TV show fanatic back in the day when I was discovering services like Netflix. But lately, I feel like Netflix doesn't have much left to offer me. Either I've already watched most of the good stuff on there or their popular shows have just been discontinued. For example, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and all the Marvel shows that Disney now have the rights to. Point is, I'm just not that into TV shows as before because Netflix doesn't have good offerings for me anymore.

So I thought, why not try other services instead? I gave Disney+ a go earlier this year and watched through the two seasons of The Mandalorian and it was good. But I just don't like Disney stuff in general, not to mention that most stuff on there are movies and I want to be immersed in engrossing TV shows instead.

The other service that I'm really interested in trying out now is HBO (Max/Nordic whatever you want to call it). I have never watched Game of Thrones. All throughout my upper secondary school days, my classmates would constantly rave about that show and I was even listening to podcasts from that period where people were gushing about it as well. There's so much praise for GoT but I never watched it because I didn't have HBO. Not to mention other TV shows like True Detective and Westworld that I've also heard a lot of good stuff about. There's also this documentary about Chernobyl that's supposedly good, and I've heard bits and pieces about The Sopranos and Band of Brothers. I know nothing about these shows and I feel like if I give HBO a shot that I'll be able to revitalise my interest in TV shows once more.

So I'm just wondering, does anyone here have HBO and think it has a lot of good TV shows and is worth subscribing to if I've never seen anything that's on there? Because I obviously don't want to subscribe only for Game of Thrones, I want to keep watching tons of great series on there. If possible, I'd love to hear some of your recommendations on shows to watch there.

@LtSarge You sound like me. Netflix has cancelled everything good whilst still greenlighting past-its-prime Stranger Things and endless Kissing Booth sequels. Disney+ is basically just movies (mostly for kids) and only a couple tv shows, aside from older content which is also mostly for kids.

HBO, on the other hand, I'd say that's where it's at. I just recently re-binged The Sopranos. I think the first season of True Detective is the finest bit of television I've ever seen. (With that in mind you should probably watch the second season first, then the first and third)
GoT just seems like a rape fantasy compilation with dragons but I've never seen it so idk, maybe I've a skewed perception of it. Either way you can't take a step without someone praising it so probably worth a try if you're interested. Westworld is mostly good and you can't go wrong with Band of Brothers so yeah, I'd say it's your best bet streaming wise.

In any case I'm pretty sure they have a trial period too, correct?

@LtSarge Game of Thrones starts good and then gets bad. Like really really really bad. And yeah, @zupertramp has basically described it as a rape fantasy with dragons and that’s relatively accurate, despite having its good moments. HBO Max isn’t over here but we have a similar channel with all the HBO content and you’d be getting quality TV like The Sopranos, Band of Brothers etc.

@LtSarge Listen to @nessisonett about Game of Thrones. If you start watching it be prepared to face a total nose dive in quality towards the final 3 seasons (Season 5 is still decent but there are signs the writing is getting worse, it just has moments of redemption).

The Chernobyl TV show you mentioned is fantastic, definitely worth watching.

Theres a few good things on Amazon Prime as well, such as The Boys and more recently Invincible (animated series).

@zupertramp @nessisonett Apparently they do not have a free trial, but I don't mind at least paying for the first month just to see how it is.

Well, I'll keep my expectations for Game of Thrones relatively leveled then! But considering how much praise it's received, it has to have some appeal at the very least. I do know that the later seasons aren't as good as the first ones, but hey there are 8 seasons so there's a lot to watch before I get to the later parts.

But yeah, I think that I'll give it a go for a month and see what I think about it. I'm just so deprived of content to watch right now. YouTube is meh, Netflix is meh, so I need something that will keep me entertained for the foreseeable future.

@NedStarksGhost Would you say that it's worth watching GoT only for the first 5 seasons and then stop there?

@LtSarge It had so much praise as the first 4 seasons are very good. It's definitely worth watching if not just to experience the same thing everyone else did!

I was a bit quick to post, just seen your post to me — watch it all, you may not feel the same as others. It still has some cool moments in the later seasons but the quality is definitely worse.

@LtSarge weird, could have sworn I watched some stuff on a trial. Or maybe it was when they put some older shows up for free for a short time at the height of the first pandemic. That's probably when I watched The Sopranos now that I think of it.

Anyway, HBO definitely has some quality tv imo. It's probably the subscription I'd solely stick with if I had to choose one.

My prediction is that Apple TV will end up being their closest rival in terms of sheer quality content. Amazon definitely could be but I think they are too busy trying to be Netflix, so that their better stuff gets diluted with everything else on offer.

@NedStarksGhost Got it, will definitely watch it then!

@zupertramp Yeah I think these free trials are temporary, but it's no big deal!

So I just subscribed for a month now and my watchlist is already full, lol. Didn't know that HBO has so many superhero shows, both Marvel and DC. I'm mostly surprised by all the DC shows that I've never heard of. It's also cool to see Supergirl on there as I've watched through The Flash and Arrow on Netflix but never that show. Also surprised to see both The Walking Dead shows. I did watch a lot of The Walking Dead back in the day through other means, but I haven't watched the later seasons. I have so much stuff to watch now, it's very exciting!

@LtSarge Strange, I didn’t think you could subscribe to HBO max in Europe yet as they delayed the launch till next year. We are totally screwed in the UK as they can only be view on Sky or their subscription service NOW TV, which is a really poor service.

Anyway, yep Game of Thrones, True Detective, Chernobyl (it's actually a drama mini series rather than a documentary), The Night of, Westworld I can all reccomend off the top of my head. Enjoy!

@JohnnyShoulder I'm subscribed to HBO Nordic and apparently they're "upgrading" it to HBO Max later this year.

But yeah, I've got all of those on my watchlist now and I'm super stoked to finally watch all these shows! Can't remember the last time I was this excited to watch TV shows, lol.

@LtSarge Ah that explains it then!

Watchmen is supposed to be good but I've not seen it.

@JohnnyShoulder I really really enjoyed Watchmen. Jeremy Irons was fantastic in it.

@JohnnyShoulder @nessisonett Definitely could use more superhero shows to watch. Will be adding that one to my watchlist as well, thanks!

Just watched the first episode of Game of Thrones and it's looking very promising so far. Lots of characters and politics, can't wait to see how everything will develop later on.

You guys weren't kidding though regarding how much sex there is in this show. Literally can't go a single scene without some people banging, lol. I honestly don't like sex in TV shows in general because it doesn't add anything of value to the plot, but at least those scenes aren't too long and tend to have a conversation going on at the same time.

@LtSarge Oh yeah loads of characters, almost too much at times. I was still getting some of the characters names wrong on the last season! 😂

@LtSarge Yeah, HBO Max is actually quite good. It’s my second most watched platform after Disney+. HBO Max over here in the States has Studio Ghibli movies as well some select Crunchyroll content, in addition to original content, DC, Adult Swim, as well as new release movies for a short time like Suicide Squad right now (I need to take time to watch that before it’s pulled next week) and Reminiscence, for example. Not sure if the European equivalent has all that too.

I am wondering how Sony’s acquisition of Cruncyroll will affect Its content on HBO

@Th3solution Oh that sounds awesome! I think it's great to know that there's so much stuff to watch now and when Nordic becomes Max there will be even more things to watch. I think HBO is honestly the way to go from here on out for me. Can't believe it's taken me this long to realise it.

@Th3solution Any existing contract Crunchyroll has with HBO will most likely still stand, unless Sony pay up to end it sooner. When the contact is up, the it will be up in the air, but knowing Sony they will probably want exclusively for their own service.

Good to hear you're enjoying Game Of Thrones so far @LtSarge.

Like the others have said before me I'm also in the camp of the first 4 season's having quality writing (whilst it was mostly adapting the books) before taking a bit of a bad turn but there are a few good episodes & set pieces from the later seasons too.

I probably need to rewatch it myself to be honest!

I think the (s)exposition was initially there because not many people knew the "A Song Of Ice & Fire" books/Game Of Thrones property when it started and well... Sex sells. 😄

It does dial it back a fair bit from what I remember as it goes along though there'll still be the odd scene here or there. Hope you continue enjoying it!